Kia ora to Air New Zealand’s first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner — photo courtesy of Air New Zealand

Last week Air New Zealand unveiled its first Boeing 787-9 stretched Dreamliner and what an occassion! The unveiling saw over 1000 attending, the showing of Air New Zealand’s edgy new livery and The Band Perry playing to ensure all were as pleased as could be.

Air New Zealand’s 787-9 is a full 6m (~20 feet) longer than conventional Dreamliners. Air New Zealand’s plans are to serve the Pacific Rim with these aircraft with each able to carry 302 passengers in greater comfort (larger cabin windows, much lower cabin pressure altitude and higher relative humidity) than before as well as with much greater fuel efficiency and substantially less emissions as far as 15,372km (~9600 miles) while cruising at Mach 0.85. The comfort does not end there as seats in all classes are of brand new design with both comfort and style in mind (including in the economy class). No less than 2000 hours of entertainment content will be available as will be 14 rows of Air New Zealand’s unique Skycouch featurewhere three seats in a row can be converted into a large sofa-like space. Powering the 787-9 are a pair of Trent 1000 turbofan engines with each rated at 74,000 pound of thrust giving the stretched Dreamliner an ETOPS rating of 330 minutes (cannot be more than 330 minutes from an airfield should an engine cease operation).

Ten more 787-9 Dreamliners are to be acquired by year’s end in 2017 which will fill the Pacific Rim routes for the airline. This aircraft, ZK-NZE, will commence service on October 15th flying the Auckland–Perth route. The Auckland–Shanghai and Auckland–Tokyo routes have also been approved.

Perhaps the most visually striking dimension is the new livery Air New Zealand has selected. An all black affair with white lettering, white koru (the spiraled shape of a fern prior to unfurling) on the tail fin and white representation of the silver fern (officially known as the New Zealand Fern Mark but only officials use the term) on the rear fuselage.

The cabin crew selected for the delivery flight to Auckland — photo courtesy of Air New Zealand

Model of the stretched Dreamliner of Air New Zealand — photo courtesy of Air New Zealand

Neil Perry, Kimberly Perry and Reid Perry (The Band Perry) performing at the unveiling — photo courtesy of Air New Zealand

Kimberly Perry singing while playing her McPherson guitar (note the offset sound hole which is above the strings) — photo courtesy of Air New Zealand

Air New Zealand’s first Boeing 787 Dreamliner’s black fuselage and white wings are edgy in appearance and carry a lot of style — photo courtesy of Air New Zealand

Air New Zealand’s first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner departs Seattle for its home in Auckland nicely showing the silver fern and koru emblems (the silver fern is on NZ passports as well) — photo courtesy of Air New Zealand

The first of over 10 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners flying for Air New Zealand arrives in Auckland — photo courtesy of Air New Zealand

No official welcome to New Zealand comes without a haka chant and a haka dance — photo courtesy of Air New Zealand

At rest after a trans-Pacific flight crossing the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere going from Summer to Autumn, also showing Air New Zealand’s use of 350 liters of black paint to great effect — photo courtesy of Air New Zealand

The crew deplanes casually as there is no airside schedule for this noncommercial flight (note the pilots in the cockpit) — photo courtesy of Air New Zealand

Standing for the obligatory photo-op and all with charming smiles are Rob McDonald (Chief Financial Officer, Air New Zealand) on the left, next is Bruce Parton (Chief Operations Officer, Air New Zealand) and Capt. David Morgan (Chief Flight Operations and Safety Officer) on the right as well as two flight attendants after landing their first of ten Boeing 787-9 stretched Dreamliners in Auckland this week — photo courtesy of Air New Zealand

One of Air New Zealand’s faces, she’ll make your flight comfortable but she’s really there to save your bacon during emergencies — photo courtesy of Air New Zealand

Note: our thanks to Air New Zealand for providing the information and photos used in this post!